Sentinel | Dark Souls Wiki

Sentinel
308	308	384	308	216
246	246	C	C	C
HP	535 (NG+ 937 )
Drops	1500 Souls (NG+ 4500 ) Giant's Halberd Giant Shield

Sentinel is an Enemy in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered. Enemies are hostile creatures that respawn when players rest at a Bonfire or upon death. Special enemies that do not respawn are classified as Bosses, Mini Bosses or Invaders.

Sentinel Description

Sentinels are giant knights found in Anor Londo. They wield the Giant's Halberd and Giant Shield, and wear the Giant Armor.

Drops

• 1500 souls
• Giant's Halberd (2% Chance)
• Giant Shield (1% Chance)

Attacks

• Single Horizontal Swing - A basic horizontal arc, covers a good bit of ground
• Double Horizontal Swing - Double the fun, double the area, double the danger
• Overhand Vertical Swing - This one has a bit of a wind up, and is easier dodged then blocked
• Trusting Attack - Longest range of them all, only used when no other attacks will reach
• Shield Slam - Long build up time, mega damage and a small AoE. Avoid at all costs

Strategy

These hulking monsters resemble enormous stone statues and often attack in pairs, though many of them will not attack you unprovoked. Unless you are looking for a fight do not lock on to them or attack them unless they move. Although powerful, Sentinels are very slow, and weak to magic, fire, and lightning damage. Their shield and guard is almost impenetrable, so flanking is a must. Their attacks consist of a single horizontal swing, two wide horizontal swings in combo, a forward lunging thrust and a ground shield smash as well as a powerful overhead vertical swing.
If you are powerful enough, a great weapon two handed may stagger them, but they are surprisingly quick to respond to your movements, often jumping out of the way of an attack. One melee strategy is to get close and hug their shield arm whilst strafing around them in lock on mode, they will attack with the vertical swings so either roll or block if you have a powerful enough shield and endurance. This can bait them into using the shield smash move, which is the slowest move they have, which provides you with time to get behind them and attack. Since the Sentinels are so tall, it's quite easy for a player to slip between their legs when they are not attacking, or charging their shield bash. It's also possible to do so while they are doing their standard sweep attack, but a good shield and high poise are necessary, since their sweeps have such a wide arc that the player is often caught by the back swing.

An easy, safe way to kill them is using ranged weapons outside their aggro range. Once you find out the proper distance, you can safely shoot arrows at their heads or weapon arms without them reacting. This is especially useful when dealing with the two Sentinels guarding the front door to the cathedral, as well as the two Royal Sentinels inside.

It is never a good idea to engage with more than one Sentinel at a time, as their monstrous reach and quick reaction to the player's mistakes often leads to unnecessary deaths. If you accidentally aggro more than one Sentinel, just leave the battlefield and let them quit the chase.